PLEASED TO MEAT YOU
Food & Wine declares 2 Austin butcher shops a cut above the rest
As Texans throughout the Lone Star State talk turkey, carving, and gobble strategies, one of the nation’s most esteemed publications is getting to the meat of the matter, highlighting a handful of Texas butcher shops as the best in the country, including two in Austin.
Food & Wine recently released its list of the best butcher shops and meat markets in America, naming Austin’s Dai Due Butcher Shop & Supper Club and Salt & Time among the prime picks.
The list of nearly 100 butcher shops is a true “meating” of the minds, featuring classic shops dating back a century as well as more modern meat markets that focus on sustainability and artisan offerings.
“There was one very clear standard: The more sustainable, the more rebellious against the prevailing winds in a morally corrupt industry, the better,” Food & Wine notes about its chosen butcher shops.
Dai Due, known for its hyper-local and seasonal approach, is “one of the best restaurants in Austin [and] one of the best butcher shops in Texas,” Food & Wine says. And calling Salt & Time’s breakfast sausages “a cut above,” the publication asserts the shop has been indispensable to the regional food scene.
The Food & Wine accolades come amid an industrious year for both butcher shops, despite the pandemic. Salt & Time chef Ben Runkle recently opened The Butcher’s Burger, which features a range of drool-worthy burgers, including Salt & Time’s bestselling classic burger as well as unique takes on lamb and pork burgers. And Dai Due chef Jesse Griffiths just announced he’d soon publish his second book, The Hog Book, a textbook of sorts for field-dressing and butchering feral hogs, complete with photos from acclaimed Texas photographer Jody Horton. With a Kickstarter campaign underway to raise funds for the project, Griffiths hopes to self-publish the book in spring 2021.
While the Food & Wine recognition is welcome, Austinites have long known of both butcher shops’ meaty pleasures. Indeed, Dai Due and Salt & Time have already sold out of their Thanksgiving pre-order offerings, though Salt & Time is still open for walk-in service.
Other nearby Texas butcheries singled out on Food & Wine’s list include Dziuk’s Meat Market in Castroville, Wiatrek’s Meat Market in Poth, Bellville Meat Market, and Thorndale Meat Market. Dallas-based Deep Cuts and Kuby’s Sausage House also made the list.
